PRESS BOX: NASCAR’s Johnson inks 3-year extension

Seven-time NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson signed a three-year contract extension to remain at Hendrick Motorsports through 2020, the organization announced Friday.

The 41-year-old Johnson, driving the No. 48 Chevrolet, won his seventh title in 2016 to tie the NASCAR record for championships held by Hall of Famers Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt.

Johnson is tied for sixth in all-time victories with 83, including three Monster Energy NASCAR Cup wins in the first 14 races of the 2017 season.

In addition, Hendrick Motorsports announced that Lowe’s Companies, Inc., agreed to extend the primary sponsorship of the team full-time through 2018.

–Martin Truex Jr. thought he had the pole for Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400 — until Kyle Larson made the last run in the final round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series knockout qualifying at Michigan International Speedway.

Driving the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet, Larson, who won the first Cup race of his career last August at MIS, covered the two-mile distance in 35.616 seconds (202.156 mph), edging Truex (202.117 mph) for the top starting spot by a scant .007 seconds.

Truex went all-out on his lap in the money round, with his car bottoming out and trailing a stream of sparks though the corners at each end of the track.

GOLF

–Paul Casey began the second round of the U.S. Open just one shot off the lead. It didn’t take long for that to change dramatically — and then change again — as the morning wave of players moved through at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis.

Casey, from England, drew even with tournament leader Rickie Fowler at 7 under with a birdie on his second hole, No. 11. Casey ran into a difficult stretch over his next four holes that included two bogeys and a triple bogey to quickly drop four shots on the round.

But Casey, who shot a 1-under par 71 Friday morning, rebounded with a run of five straight birdies — at Nos. 17, 18, 1, 2 and 3 — to move back to the top of leaderboard.

–A 94-year-old Wisconsin man died of natural causes during Friday’s second round of the U.S. Open at Erin Hills in Erin, Wis.

According to local authorities, rescue personnel and Washington County sheriff’s deputies stationed at the tournament were dispatched to the grandstand at the No. 6 hole to attend to the unidentified man, who was reported to not be breathing and not have a pulse.

Rescue personnel arrived within three minutes of the call and began CPR. The man, who is from Wauwatosa, Wis., was transferred to an on-site ambulance, where he was pronounced dead.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Florida football coach Jim McElwain had his contract reworked, the school announced.

McElwain’s deal now runs through the 2022 season. His contract is worth $26.9 million over the next six seasons. His average salary of $4.48 million ranks fifth among SEC coaches.

McElwain has led the Gators to a 19-8 record in his two seasons as coach. Florida has reached the SEC title game both seasons and lost both times.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Florida coach Mike White had his coaching contract reworked through the 2022-23 season, the school announced.

White guided the Gators to a 27-9 record and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament last season. He earned SEC Coach of the Year honors.

White’s renegotiated pact is worth just over $2.7 million per season. He will make $16.3 million over six seasons. He is slated to earn $2.525 million in the 2017-18 season. White earned $613,501 last season.

NHL

–Arizona Coyotes owner Andrew Barroway, who completed his buyout of the team’s minority owners this week, announced changes to the front office.

Barroway, who also holds titles of team chairman and governor, said president and CEO Anthony LeBlanc and president of hockey operations Gary Drummond stepped down from their duties, effective immediately.

Barroway also announced that general counsel Ahron Cohen has been named as the club’s new chief operating officer.

–The Edmonton Oilers signed forward Jujhar Khaira to a two-year contract extension.

Khaira, 22, appeared in 10 games for the Oilers this past season, scoring one goal with two penalty minutes and a plus-one rating. In 25 career NHL games, he has a goal, two assists and 15 penalty minutes.

Khaira became the third player of Punjabi Indian descent to score a goal in the NHL, after Robin Bawa and half-French, half-Indian Manny Malhotra.

UFC

–Former UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes was airlifted to a medical facility on Friday morning after the truck in which he was driving collided with a moving train.

The crash took place just south of Raymond, Ill., which is 12 miles north of Hughes’ home in Hillsboro.

According to Illinois State Police, Hughes drove a pickup truck across a railroad crossing “directly in front of a train and the train struck the passenger side of the truck.” The 43-year-old Hughes was taken to a hospital in Springfield, with his injuries being deemed as serious by the Illinois State Police.

TENNIS

–Local favorite and No. 1 seed Johanna Konta booked a spot in the semifinals of the Aegon Open in Nottingham, England, beating Ashleigh Barty 6-3, 7-5.

Konta, eighth in the world and the British’s No. 1 ranked player, moved closer to her first win on grass before the home crowd. She has won three tournaments on the WTA Tour in the last 12 months, all on hard courts.

Barty struggled with her serve in the first set and Konta took advantage of the Australian’s mistakes. But Barty was much stronger on serve in the second set, breaking Konta to take a 4-2 lead.

–Top-seeded Marin Cilic advanced to the semifinals of the Ricoh Open with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Vasek Pospisil of Canada at ‘S-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

The Croatian needed just 77 minutes to dispose of Pospisil. Cilic won the final five games of the match after digging a hole in the second set.

Cilic will face countryman Ivo Karlovic in the semifinals. The third-seeded Karlovic cruised to a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Russian qualifier Daniil Medvedev.

–Seventh-seeded Lesia Tsurenko reached the semifinals of the Ricoh Open after cruising past second-seeded Kristina Mladenovic at ‘S-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Tsurenko rolled to a 6-3, 6-1 victory and wrapped up the strong performance in just 62 minutes.

The Ukrainian delivered 10 winners and committed just nine unforced errors while reaching the semifinals for the third time this year.

–Feliciano Lopez of Spain advanced to the semifinals of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart, Germany, by upsetting third-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4.

Berdych failed to convert a double set-point opportunity in the first set with Lopez serving at 5-6, 15-40, but Berdych won the first-set tiebreaker.

Lopez, one of the few current players who likes to serve and volley, broke for a 4-2 lead in the second set, then broke Berdych’s serve again in the seventh game of the final set.